December 24, 2013

Judgette Rejects Catholic Challenge to Obamacare

The Catholic Church isn’t harmed by the U.S. Affordable Care Act’s requirement for providing employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives, a judge ruled, throwing out most of a lawsuit challenging the provision. U.S. District Judge Amy Jackson in Washington last Thursday rejected arguments made by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Washington, and schools within its jurisdiction, that the requirement that employers provide cost-free coverage for contraceptive services is contrary to their religious beliefs, and violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and their constitutionally protected free-speech rights. Read more...

Record 87 Abortion Clinics Closed in 2013

Operation Rescue has concluded an exhaustive survey of abortion clinics in the U.S. and announced that it has documented a record number of abortion clinic closures in 2013, during which time 87 surgical abortion clinics halted abortions. The total number of surgical abortion clinics left in the U.S. is now 582. This represents an impressive 12% net decrease in surgical abortion clinics in 2013 alone, and a 73% drop from a high in 1991 of 2,176. Read more...

Hiding Obamacare’s Abortion Coverage

During the first round of congressional hearings on the subject of the Healthcare.gov website, Rep. John Shimkus, Illinois Republican, asked Mrs. Sebelius to make sure that federal exchange plans that cover elective abortion are readily identifiable to consumers, so that people who do not wish to purchase plans that cover elective abortion would not unknowingly enroll in such plans. Mrs. Sebelius responded, “I know exactly the issue you’re talking about. I will check and make sure that is clearly identifiable.” She also promised to provide the committee a list of insurers in the federal exchange who do not offer abortion coverage. Nearly two months later, Mrs. Sebelius has still not provided any such information to the public. Read more...

December 17, 2013

Abortion Doctor Gets 30 Years for Pill Mill

The Philadelphia abortion doctor who was convicted of first-degree murder for killing babies that were born alive in his clinic has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for running a pill mill out of the same clinic. Kermit Gosnell, 72, pleaded guilty to prescribing and dispensing narcotics from June 2008 to February 2010. He wrote fraudulent prescriptions for hundreds of thousands of prescription pills -- including 600,000 pills containing oxycodone -- to cash-paying customers who showed no medical need. Read more...

December 14, 2013

European Parliament Rejects Abortion as 'Human Right'

Members of the European Parliament have rejected a report which suggested that abortion be defined as a "human rights and public-health concern." The rejection of the report affirms the ability of the individual nations in the European Union to promote their own approach to sexual education and abortion policies. Read more...

Michigan Puts Restrictions on Abortion Insurance

Michigan will join more conservative states in requiring residents who want health insurance coverage for abortions to buy an extra policy, after Republican legislators passed the law over the objections of Democrats who pleaded for them to take the issue to voters instead. The citizens' initiative approved 62-47 by the House and 27-11 in the Senate — almost entirely along party lines — will become law in March without the signature of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, who vetoed similar legislation a year ago. The pro-life group Right to Life collected more than 300,000 signatures to put the legislation before lawmakers, who also had the option of letting it go to a statewide vote next November. Read more...

December 13, 2013

James Dobson Sues Over Abortion Pill Mandate

"Family Talk," a Christian radio ministry, and its president James Dobson are suing the federal government for subjecting them to the Affordable Care Act's, or "Obamacare's," "abortion mandate," despite the nonprofit's religious and moral objections to the mandate. The lawsuit claims the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' birth control mandate violates the First Amendment as well as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The suit says forcing Family Talk to offer coverage for abortion-inducing drugs force the nonprofit and its president to violate their religious convictions. Read more...

License Plates Raise $19 Million Nationally

Although pro-choice organizations have fought to keep them off the road, as of now 29 states give drivers the option to ‘Choose Life’ on their license plates. Russell Amerling, the National Publicity Coordinator for Choose Life America, realizes the vast potential of having pro-life license plates on our nation’s highways as an inexpensive way to promote a culture of life. He once spoke with a billboard salesman about the significance of miniature advertisements on the road, especially considering the costly expense of renting billboard space. Read more...

Court Hears N.D. Abortion Law Arguments

North Dakota's Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the state's sole abortion clinic can use drugs to terminate pregnancies, the first challenge before the state's highest court to a recent raft of abortion restrictions considered the most restrictive in the nation. The state's attorney general's office, which defends state laws against court challenges, wants the North Dakota Supreme Court to reverse a July ruling by a district judge that found the 2011 law aimed at limiting abortion drugs violates the state constitution. Read more...